Te Whau Winery and Restaurant

Just made it full lunch before the rain comes :)) love the view, the food is truly high grade. Not a fusion kind of making splash but a true quality food u can taste each of the ingredients. Love it.

Very unique location sitting at the point of the island. The wine was by far the best on waiheke. Restaurant is supposedly very good. If it is as good as the view you should be very happy.

Great views, expensive everything, okay service and you cannot actually taste their wine… so overall pretty disappointing

Terrible service. It’s clear they profiled me and didn’t want me there from the moment I walked in the door. When I asked for a table, I was told they were fully booked for the rest of the day. After the reluctantly sat me at the wine bar, I watched them seat new arrivals and take reservations for that afternoon. It’s a shame because it had so much potential to be a pleasant experience (with the beautiful view and nice tasting flight).

I came here with the expectation that the food would be great, having seen Marco Edwards in action at the Seafood Cookschool. I wasn’t disappointed. This small vineyard restaurant has great views from the balcony, looking down over the vines and out to the tranquil bays. Food was quickly ordered and did not fail to impress — pulled pork croquettes, the house-​smoked salmon (which Sean Connery so famously ordered), curry dusted scallops with pea and vanilla purée (my favourite), charcuterie selection with cute little picked onions, cheeses and ginger sponge trifle to follow. All beautifully presented. Worth the ferry ride for sure.

My wife and I celebrated our eighth wedding
anniversary by catching the Sea Link car ferry from Half Moon Bay Marina to Waiheke.
I had never thought of Waiheke as a weekend break let alone holiday destination. We stayed at the Cross Trees Chalet, conveniently located in the property adjacent to the Te Whau Estate.
After two weeks of windy, rainy and cold weather, we were blessed to have clear, still weather on this jaunt.
Arriving at Te Whau, we were stunned at the view. The restaurant is located atop a hill, and looks down at its vineyard. Across the small inlet, one can see the Kennedy Point Ferry terminal. And what a marvellous view made all the more spectacular by the fading azure blue skies and the sun painting the skyline above Auckland City a burnished gold. Just spectacular.
We started with the entrée of Seared Kingfish and my wife had scallops. I can’t really say much other than superb.
For my main, I had Gnocchi wrapped in aubergine while my wife had the lamb. Again, both dishes were just superb.
For dessert, I had a cheddar cheese with a glass of Semillon. My wife had the sticky date pudding. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to get the cheese platter because I just wanted more. The sticky date pudding was the best I have ever eaten in the world. The flat white (coffee) she had with it was the best flat white she’d ever had. And she can drink coffee! ;-)
This has been the best dining experience I have had in a long time.
The service was great. Tony and Moira have really set the bar high with their care and attention to detail. It’s easy to see why they have done very well with awards over the years. But don’t take my word for it, try it
yourself. You won’t be disappointed.

Absolutely stunning view of Auckland and Waiheke Island, with a fantastic restaurant and tasting room. The quality of the food and wine is easily matched with amazing service. I arrived at 2.50pm for lunch, which ends at 3pm.
They were more than willing to accommodate my needs, and served me a fantastic lunch of pork and pistachio terrine (see photo). I will be back next time I’m in Auckland!

Do I have a choice but to give five stars to this multi-​awarded, widely acclaimed restaurant? At this level of cuisine, it’s hard to find fault. The food at Te Whau looked great, tasted even better, the service top notch.
Gordon Ramsey dined here and was gracious, said the host.
Here’s what we had: venison carpaccio, crayfish bisque, and goat cheese tart for our entrees; John Dory and Alpine salmon for mains; a bread basket and seasonal vegetables; Felton Road pinot noir; sticky date pudding and coffee.
Plus a side dish of million-​dollar, blue sky views of Waiheke, the Tamaki Strait, Rangitoto, the Auckland skyline, a Sealink ferry floating into Putaki Bay.
(I do hope they upgrade their website design, as it fails to show that they are a great restaurant.)

Te Whau is one of Waiheke Island and New Zealand’s premier wineries and small vineyards.
Like other Waiheke wineries, Te Whau produces «Bordeaux style» reds, and some of them are truly stunning. The Point, Te Whau’s main label, it a classic and highly sought after, an in ‘off’ vintages, in to further compliment the Bordeaux traditions the island is replicating, it is released as «Le petit point». I recommend a parallel tasting of four vintages of The Point, followed by a glass of the Syrah k if you’re lucky enough to make it here.
The restaurant is all class as well having just been named one of NZ’s best. It makes a living catering to all types from wealthy day-​trippers to Gordon Ramsey, who happened to show up in a helicopter the day I visited! Views form the deck or inside tables are phenomenal, and worth the trip in their own right.
Wine and celebrity spotting with one of the island’s best settings, well worth the special trip.